The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-03-02

The boy raised his hat in recognition of the
order, and then rose, hand over
hand, and went to work; and as he
I swung in the storm the passengers wruns
their hands and expected to see him falL lbe
work done, he came down in safety. and a
Christian man said to him: "Why did you
| go down in the forecastle before you vert
| up?" sAh,n said the boy, 81 went down to
pray. Ny mother always taught me before
I undertook anything great to pray. ""W M nat
| is that you have in your vest" said ths
man. 80, that is the New Testament" he
| said. 81 thought would carry it with me
| if I really did go overheard" How well
| that boy was protectedl I care not how
great the height or how vast the depth, with
aud Christ above us, and Christ all around
us, nothing shall befall us in the way OF
! harm. Christ himself, having been in the
| tempest, will deliver all those who put their
trust in him. Blessed be his glorious name
| forever.
The third installment paid for our re:
| demption was the Saviour's sham trial l
call it sham trial--there has ne yer been any
thing so Indecent or unfair in the Tomas
| Court of New York, as was witnessed at the
trial Of Christ Why, they hustled Him into
the courtroom at two o'clock in the morn
ing. They gave Him no time for counsel.
They gave Him no opportunity for subpoena
ing witnesses. The rufliians who were wander
ing around through the midnight, OF course
they saw the arrest and went INTO tne coure-
room. But Jesuss friends were sober men,
were respectable men. and at that hour-two
o'clock in the morning-of course they were
at home asleep Consequently Christ entered
the courtroom with the ruifians.
Oh, look at Him! No one to speak Word
for Him. 1 lift the lantern until can look
into His face, and as my heart beats III SYM
pathy for this, the best friend the world ever
had, Himself now utterly friendless, an
officer of the courtroom comes up and smltes
Him in the mouth, and see the blood steal
ing from gum and lip. Oh, it was farce
of a trial, lasting only perhaps an
hour, and then the judge rises for the SEN
tence 1t is against the law to give sentence
unless there has been an adjournment OF the
court between condemnation and sentence;
but what cares this judge for the lawf the
man has no friends-let him de-" says tne
Judge, and the rutians outside the rail cry:
HAha! aha! that's what we want
- His blood. Hand him out here to
US. Away with Him! Away with HIM"
Oh bless God, that amid all the injustice
that may be inflicted upon us in this world
we have divine sympathizer. The world
cannot lie about you, nor abuse you as much
as they did Christ, and Jesus stands
to-day in every court room, IN every
"Couragel By all my hours of
maltreatment aud abuse, will protect those
who are trampled on" And when Christ
forgets that two o'clock morning scene, and
the stroke of tho ruian on the mouth, and
the bowling of the unwashed crowd, then He
will forget you and me in the injustIces OF
life that may be inflicted upon us.
Some Of you, want deliverance from your
troubles, God knows you have enough OF
them. Physical troubles; domestic troubles;
spiritual troubles; financial troubles. You
have been gathering them up, some perhaps
for five or six, or seven years, and you nave
divided them into two classes: Those you can
talk about and those you cannot talk about;
and as those griefs are the most grinding
and depressing which you cannot mention
YOU get coincidence for the things you can
Speak of, while you get no coincidence for the
things that you cannot. In your school days
YOU learned how to bound the States, and
could tell what rivers and lakes and noun.
tains ran through them. If you were asked
to-day to bound your worldly estate
YOU would say it is bounded on the
north by trouble, and on the The. south
trouble, and on the west by trouble, while
rivers of tears and lakes Of woe, and noun
tains of disaster run through it. What are
YOU going to do with your troubles? Why do
You not 60 the theater and have your mind
absorbed in some tragedy! ''Oh," you say,
'everything have seen on the boards OF the
stage IS tame compared with the tragedy of
my own life!" Well, then, why do you not
gather up all the mementoes Of your
departed friends and put them
out of sight, and take down their pictures
from the wall and put in the frame harvest
scene or some bright and gay spectacle'
"Ah," you say, ''if shou remove all these
mementoes of my departed friends, that
would not take away the killing pictures that
are hanging in the gallery OF my own heart
Well, if that does not help you. why not
plunge into society and try to wash off in
worldly gayetles all these asSoilments OF the
soul! "Oh," you say, 1" l have tried that
but how can hear other children laugh when
nv children are silent? How can see other
happy families when my own happy family
is broken up. Trouble, troublem But do
you gain anything by brooding over your
misfortunes, by sitting down in a dark room,
by a comparison of the sweet past win tne
bitter present? No; that makes things
worse" But I have to tell you to-day that
the Christ Of all sympathy presents Himself.
Is there anybody in this house that ';an
get along without sympathys do not think
would live day without it. And Yet there
are q great many who seem to get along
without divine sympathy. Their fortune in
the counting-room, or in the store, or IN
the insurance company, takes wings and fiies
away. They button up penniless pocket.
They sit down in renury where once
they had affluence, and yet there Is
no Jesus to stand by them and say:
"Oh, man, there are treasures that never
fail, in banks that never break! will take
care Of you. own the cattle on thousand
hills, and you shall never want" They have
no such divine Saviour to say that to them.
10 not know how they get along; Death
comes to the nursery. One voice 1855 IN tne
household. One less fountain OF Joy nud
laughter. Two hands less to be busy
through the hall. Shadow after shadow
following through that household, yet no
Jesus to stand there and say: " am the
shepherd. That lamb is not lost. l took it or
The cold mountains. Alls we'll" On, can
you tell me the mystery? Can you solve itf
Iell me how it is that men and women Win
aches, and pains, and sorrows, and losses,
and exasperations, and bereayemenGs, can
get along without sympathizins Christ!
cannot understand it.
But come here to say this morning that
II YOU really want divine sympathy you can
have it. There are two or thres passages OF
Scripture that throb with pity and kinaness
and love "Cast thy burden on the Lord and
he will sustain thee" "Come unto Ie all
We who are weary and heavy laden and
will give YOU rest" Oh, there are green pas
lures where the Heavenly Shepherd leads the
sick and wounded of the flock! When all the
other trees of the orchard fail. God has one
tree Of fruit for His dear children. Though
the organ walls out requiem, there comes
afterward song, chant, an anthem, oat-
tle-march, a coronation, victory 10 yot ~
not want the sympathy Of Jesus? offer IL
+h;, MORNING to avery man and woman In